Mail-box.



J. R. HANDLES.

. MAIL BOX.

APPLIQATIM'W FILED my 14, 1910.

Patented Nov. 28, 1911.

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LRRANDLEs.

MAIL BOX.

) APPLICATION FILED MAY 14, 1910. 1,010,317, Patented Nov. 28, 1911.

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MAIL-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 28, 1911.

Application filed May 14, 1910. Serial No. 561,339.

To all'ibhom it may concern:

Be it known that'I, Jon B. HANDLES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Viola, inthe county of Richland and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail boxes adapted for rural delivery routes, and the invention has for one of its objects to improve and simplify the construction and operation of mailboxes of this character so as to be comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, reliable and eflicient in use, storm-proof, and readily manipulated to throw the door open'or closed.

Another object of the invention is the pro-.

vision of a money and letter-holding device which is automatically projected out of the box when the door is opened, the said device serving to receive the required money to pay the postage for the unstamped letters which are placed in the device.

An additional object is the employment of novel means for throwing the door open and closed by a handle located outside. the box and depressible at the front thereof.

With these objects in view and others, as y will appear-asthe description proceeds, the lnvention comprises the various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be more fully described.

hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claim appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the mail box with the door section closed. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the door section opened and the money and letter-holding device projected. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the box showing the door section in closed position by full lines, and in open position by dotted lines. Fig. i is a transverse section of the box. Fig. 5 is a detail section of the money receptacle open to deliver the coin.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the body of the box, which is preferably a sheet iron structure consisting of a bottom 1, side walls 2, and an end wall 3, the front and top of the body being open. The open top and front are normally closed by a cover or door section B which consists of a top plate 4 and'a front plate 5, the side edges of the said plates being bent into flanges 6 so as to extend over the'side walls of the body section and thereby prevent snow and rain from entering the box. The rear end of the cover section is hingedly mounted on the body section by means of rivets 7 which pass through the flanges 6 and upper rear corners of the side walls. By mounting the cover or door section in this manner, it is free to swing upwardly to open position.

The means for operating the door comprises a handle C which consists of a rod of metal bent into spaced side members 8 i that have their front ends connected by a cross bar orv handle 9, while their rear extremities are bent upwardly and terminate transversely under the box and is fastened thereon by .a grooved retaining plate 13 bolted to the bottom of the box, the said plate 13 forming one member of a bracket 14' whereby the mail box is secured to a post or other support. The bolt 12 is disposed adjacent the middle of the box and the grip portion of the handle C extends forwardly therefrom and straddles the box, as shown in Fig. l;

Connected with the hinged end of the door section is a metal strip 15 that extends across and is secured to the door section, and the ends of the strip are bent downwardly into arms 16 that are each provided with a longitudinal slot 17 for receiving the lug 10 of the adjacent handle member 8, so that the handle of the device will have slot and pin connections with the door section. The

ing upwardly on the handle, the door section will be moved closed. On the door section is a fla or other signal 18 mounted on a stafi' 19 hinged at 20 to the door section, and extending downwardly from the hinge is a finger 21 which is adapted to engage in a socket 22 on the side of the body section A when the flag is to be held in signaling position.

Within the box is mounted a combined money and letter holder D, so that when the user has not the required postage for the letters to be mailed, he can deposit the equivalent sum in coin in the holder so that the postman can apply the stamps. This device D consists of a receptacle 23 which is open at its bottom and top and has a valve or coin rest 24 pivotally mounted therein. This valve is mounted to swing on a transverse axle 25 which has its ends journaled in openings 26 in the sides of the receptacle so that by turning the valve, the coins supported thereon will drop out of the bottom of the receptacle. This coin-holding valve or means normally rests against the stop 27 in the receptacle, and depending from the valve is a weighted plunger or stem 28 that extends out of the bottom of the receptacle so that the postman can place his hand under the latter and push the device 28 upwardly to tilt the coin-holding valve and cause the coin to drop out. On the side of the receptacle are one or more leaf springs 29 which form letter-holding clips so that those letters which are not stamped can be kept from the other outgoing mail matter that has been placed in the box. This combined coin and letter holder is mounted on the forward end of a longitudinally-movable member 30 disposed within the box and movable in a guide 31 secured to one of the side walls of the box, and the rear end of this member is connected with an arm 32 rigidly secured to the door sect-ion so that as the latter is moved open and closed, the letter and money-holding device will be projected or retracted.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,

the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while I have described the principle of operation of the rear portion of the body section, a pair of depending arms rigidly secured to and movable with the cover section, a pair of arms pivotally mounted on the body section at its bottom and intermediate its ends and mov able parallel with the sides, means for slidably connecting the extremities of one pair of arms with the other pair, and a handle connected with the first-mentioned pair of arms to move the same together for swinging the cover section open or closed.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOE R. RANDLES. Witnesses:

W. J FIsHEL, L. C. SANDMIRE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

- Washington, D. G. 

